


Escape

by Philosophizes



Series: Bad Decisions Series Backstory Fics [19]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Adults, Children, Gen, Humans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-23
Updated: 2013-01-23
Packaged: 2017-11-26 16:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/652126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Philosophizes/pseuds/Philosophizes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>China is placed in a situation he would have given anything to avoid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escape

No one thought it worth noticing that China was walking at a brisk pace through the secure government compound in the city. He was _China._ He _belonged_ there.  
  
The old wicker basket might have been a bit out of place, but wasn’t like Wang Yao _only_ represented those in the cities. He had farmers and villagers to worry about, too.  
  
Getting _out,_ however, was going to be a much more difficult proposition.

* * *

 _One more step. Just one more step. And one more after this-_  
  
Yao’s head was reeling and his stomach was churning and his vision was blurring from the tension inside him and the stink of the filthy, bloody bundle in his arms.  
  
The wicker basket on his back whimpered.  
  
 _“Shhhh,”_ he murmured. “Just stay quiet a little while longer. Just a little while longer, I _promise._ ”  
  
The whimpering quieted obediently.  
  
 _I can’t focus here. One more step. One more step. I just need to get out of this area._  
  
He maneuvered a heavy door open carefully, praying fervently that there was no one in the hallway-  
  
 _Last step, last step-_  
  
Clean air assaulted his nose and he inhaled with a desperate gasp and took a step and reached with his being as his foot came down-  
  
-and his shoe hit the slimy, slightly-rotted remains of something in an alley of the city.  
  
 ** _Keep walking!_**  
  
One more step to the slums on the outskirts, a longer stride to the suburbanized area outside it, then fields, and rice patties, and desert and desert and desert and more desert-  
  
The basket started wailing, and a small head with big black eyes and dark messy hair poked out.  
  
“Tai, Tai, it will be all right. It will be _all right-_ ”  
  
 _“BÁBA!”_ the toddler screeched.  
  
Yao didn’t even wince, or notice the tears that were streaming down his face.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-”  
  
More desert.

* * *

He was in the mountains, desperately trying not to lose his footing on the unstable gravel.  
  
 _“Bába! Bába! Bába!”_  
  
Tai was still shrieking.  
  
Another step and he was in Kyrgyzstan.  
  
 _We’re_ out, _thank you Yù Huáng, xiè xiè, xiè xiè-_  
  
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan-  
  
 _-the Caspian Sea, I can’t-_  
  
-Iran, Iraq, Turkey, the Hellespont, Greece-  
  
 ** _Europe._**  
  
Yao sobbed in relief.  
  
The Balkans passed by in seconds, Germany in the blink of an eye-

* * *

The door to the EU meeting slammed open and banged against the wall as China staggered in.  
  
The assembled Nations stared at him in shock, but then the room was filled with the scraping of chairs against the floor and shouting in at least eight different languages as everyone swept the papers and reports off the table and onto the floor-  
  
-Yao was shaking, and barely heard when Germany spoke to him, trying to take the bundle out of his arms.  
  
His muscles tightened instinctively, but Sweden came and pried his arms open and Germany carried the bundle over to the now-clear table where Austria and France were waiting-  
  
-Spain reached into the basket and pulled out the screaming toddler, cradling him gently and cooing to him softly in his native language, trying to calm the boy-  
  
-Lithuania and Greece guided China to a vacated chair and sat him down, where he shook while Italy hovered and fussed-  
  
“China, China, what _happened-_ ”  
  
There was a loud, horrified exclamation in French from the vicinity of the table as the Nations there pulled apart the bloody rags.  
  
 _“My son!”_ Yao screamed. “ _My son,_ they took my _daughter_ and my _son_ and his _wife,_ just for _disagreeing!_ For saying that there are some things that are _wrong!_ ”  
  
Latvia crept over and tried to offer some comfort, but he was trembling just as badly as China was.  
  
“They _took_ them and they _beat_ them and they _hurt_ them and _I felt it!_ Shi is _dead!I felt my daughter **die** ,_ and- and- and- I’m sorry, _I’m sorry-!_ ”  
  
Poland was using his hand mirror to reflect light back into the tortured man’s eyes.  
  
“He needs a doctor, like, _now._ ”  
  
Romano was on the phone, talking rapidly, urgently, in Italian as the rest of the room started to argue about how to get China’s son treated without arousing suspicion and Yao started to blank out, succumbing to the shock he’d been fighting off ever since he’d felt the first phantom pain lance through his body from the treatment of his children, _his own children,_ not just his citizens but the little boy and girl he’d raised from birth-  
  
Romano snapped the phone closed.  
  
 _“Amsterdam!”_ he said loudly. “There’s a doctor who won’t ask awkward questions! _Andiamo!_ ”  
  
This time the Netherlands picked up Yao’s son and Spain trotted over with Tai reduced to sobbing in his arms and Belgium took over from Lithuania and Greece to stand China up and steer him towards the door that South Italy was already heading out of, fixed on getting to his car as fast as possible.

Wang Zheng slowly came to consciousness, refused to groan despite the current sorry state of his existence, and opened his eyes a crack.  
The room he was in was dim, and whatever he was lying on was surprising comfortable.  
  
He tried moving, only for pain to swamp his mind, and he gritted his teeth.  
  
 _I will_ not _let those bastards hear me scream, they don’t_ get _that satisfaction from me-_  
  
A door opened somewhere nearby, and Zheng froze.  
  
There were footsteps that clicked on the floor-  
  
 _Military boots. With those little heels._  
  
-and then a hand fell on his shoulder.  
  
Involuntarily, he flinched, and the action turned into a convulsion as he inhaled sharply, and a thin whine of pain escaped from his throat.  
  
“ _Eh, Eh, todo is bien. Soy no te dueles. Estoy aquí ayudar_.”  
  
 _That made_ no _sense at all._  
  
“ _¿Eh, hola?_ ”  
  
There was a pause.  
  
“ _¿Tú puedes comprender lo que digo?_ ”  
  
 _I’m not telling you_ anything.  
  
He heard the faint rustle of cloth and he braced himself for a slap across the face, probably to enhance the pain of his broken nose and cracked jaw.  
  
 _I will not scream I will not scream I will_ not _scream-_  
  
“ _Wat over nu?_ ”  
  
Zheng stayed silent. He wouldn’t play their games. _Clearly_ the comfort and lack of physical punishment and the bandages he could feel under the covers of what he’d now realized to be an actual bed were some scheme to make him drop his guard. And this nonsense they were spouting-  
  
“ _Alle rechten dan- Italiano_?”  
  
 _My family- what happened to my son? They’d_ better _not have touched him!_  
  
“ _Le français_? _Deutsch_? _Ellhnikά_?"  
  
The hand moved to his forehead, and his antagonizer leaned into his field of vision-  
  
-and she clearly _wasn’t_ Chinese. Or even Asian. Her skin looked slightly brownish-gold, and her eyes were a bright green and _entirely_ the wrong shape-  
  
“ _Vorbesti orice limbi europene_? _Bu çok fazla Batı sizin için mi_? _Wemada 'en alelghh al'erebyh_? What about English? Do you speak English?”  
  
“E-E… English?” Zheng forced out. _Technically_ he knew it- and _shit_ talking hurt-  
  
The woman brightened up.  
  
“Oh good, we _do_ share a language. I was starting to worry that you couldn’t actually hear anymore.”  
  
“Wha-Where is I?”  
  
He was in no condition to try speaking anything but Mandarin. He knew that was wrong, but he couldn’t remember why. The burn in his throat as he tried to force his damaged muscles to work properly was extremely distracting.  
  
“Amsterdam,” the woman told him, ignoring his grammar. “The Netherlands. Europe. Your father walked across two entire continents to get you out of- wherever you were.”  
  
 _He came. He_ came _for me-_  
  
“ _Bába-_ ”  
  
He tried to sit up and look around, but something pulled and he bit back a shriek of pain.  
  
The woman grabbed him gently and lowered him back to the mattress.  
  
“Yes, your father’s here,” she said. “He’s sleeping on the floor on the other side of the bed. He has some little boy with him.”  
  
“Tai?”  
  
The woman nodded.  
  
“Is he your son?”  
  
Zheng felt himself starting to tear up in relief.  
  
 _“Yes.”_  
  
She smiled at him, and it was the most wonderful thing he could remember seeing in a long time.  
  
“I’m Dr. Agresta Fernandez, Mr. Wang. I’ve been treating you for the last few days. We just moved you from the hospital to here the day before yesterday.”  
  
“Here?”  
  
“Netherland’s house. He’s been hosting your father and son since last week. Most of Europe and Asia have stopped by since then to check in on you and talk with China. It’s been  
really sweet.”  
  
“Please,” Zheng struggled to say. “I wi- I wo-”  
  
He wasn’t sure how to say this, and the pain whenever he moved his jaw wasn’t helping at all.  
  
“ _Bába_ ,” he settled for.  
  
“You want me to wake him up?”  
  
He nodded slightly. Even that little movement hurt.  
  
Dr. Agresta smiled again.  
  
“Give me a moment.”

Yao awoke to someone shaking him.  
  
“Mr. Wang? China, sir, your son’s woken up.”  
  
He blinked as the message filtered into his brain and scrambled to his feet.  
  
 _“Zheng-!”_  
  
His son smiled weakly at him through the bandages swathing half his face and tried to reach for him, only to whimper as his abused arms pointedly refused to cooperate.  
  
Yao took his arms gently and lowered them back to the bed.  
  
“Zheng- Zheng, _please,_ where are you hurt?”  
  
“Everywhere,” the man rasped.  
  
China forced his hands not to clutch tighter. He wouldn’t hurt his son any more.  
  
“Your wife is dead,” he said, as the doctor left the room as quietly as she could.  
  
Zheng closed his eyes.  
  
“I know,” he whispered. “Saw.”  
  
“A-And your sister. Shi.”  
  
“Saw.”  
  
Yao rested his forearms on pillow and leaned over to slowly rest his forehead on his son’s chest.  
  
“I am so, _so_ sorry.”  
  
“Not your fault, _Bába_.”  
  
“It _is,_ ” Yao protested, fighting more tears. He’d thought he’d cried all he could. “I wanted this government. They said they’d make things better; but they _never-_ ”  
  
“Not your orders.”  
  
“That doesn’t make me any less respons-”  
  
“You saved me,” his son interrupted. “Thank you.”  
  
China inhaled shakily.  
  
“Don’t thank me. You’re my son and it’s _wrong,_ what they do-”  
  
“See? Guilty. Not your orders. Proof.”  
  
He bit the inside of his lip.  
  
“It’s not that simple, Zheng.”  
  
“Is so.”  
  
There was no more resisting the tears.  
  
“No,” Yao whispered. “It’s really not.”

* * *

“Sorry you’re hurting,” Zheng said.  
  
“Don’t be sorry for that.”  
  
There were a few quiet moments as the man in the bed fought off fatigue.  
  
“Why I did it. Why I said things. To stop you hurting.”  
  
“Oh, no- no, no, no, _no, Zheng-_ ”  
  
“Why Shi did it too. We _saw_ you. How they hurt you.”  
  
China hid his face in his hand.  
  
“I wish you hadn’t. I _so_ wish you hadn’t.”  
  
“Had to. Make them stop.”  
  
“You _can’t_ make them stop, Zheng," his father said tiredly. "Not on your own.”  
  
His son sighed, starting to drift off again.  
  
“Got to try.”

* * *

Zheng tried to turn his head.  
  
“Tai?”  
  
“He’s- He’s been doing- not... bad,” his father replied hesitantly. “He’s been very worried and I- I haven’t told him-”  
  
 _How am I supposed to tell him about something like_ this?  
  
“-do you want me to wake him up?”  
  
“No. He needs sleep. I'll talk-”  
  
He stopped, and waited for the pain to subside a bit.  
  
"-to him later."  
  
Yao stroked his son’s face tenderly.  
  
“You should go back to sleep, too. You need to heal.”  
  
“ _Been_ sleeping.”  
  
“You should still do it more.”  
  
His son looked at him pleadingly.  
  
“Don’t go, _Bába_. I love you.”  
  
China’s breath hitched.  
  
“I love you too. And I’m not going anywhere. Now go back to sleep.”  
  
Zheng tried to nod, but it hurt too much.  
  
“Not going home?”  
  
“ _They can live without me for another week!_ And if they _can’t_...”  
  
China's expression clouded.  
  
 _"Good."_  
  
“Got to go home.”  
  
Yao shook his head violently.  
  
"Zheng, you _**can't!**_ "  
  
“No. _You_ go home. Save more people. Save yourself.”

"Don't you think I've been _trying?_ "

Zheng mumured something indistinct and tried to move his hand towards his father. Yao took it gently.

"Stay here," he ordered quietly. "Stay in Europe, or go to the Americas. Stay low, don't cause trouble, and we can keep them away from you forever. You won't be hurt again and no one will bother you- wherever you decide to go, you tell me, and I'll tell the Netherlands, and together we'll get you passports and papers and no one will ever be able to question how you got here-"

He reached out to touch his now-sleeping son's face.

"You can take Tai with you and start a new family," he promised. "A family that won't get you hurt."

**Author's Note:**

> Eh, Eh, todo is bien. Soy no te dueles. Estoy aquí ayudar (Spanish): Hey, hey, everything is fine. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help.  
> ¿Eh, hola? (Spanish): Hey, hello?  
> ¿Tú puedes comprender lo que digo? (Spanish): Can you understand what I’m saying?
> 
> Wat over nu? (Dutch): What about now?  
> Alle rechten dan- (Dutch): All right then-
> 
> Italiano (Italian): Italian  
> Le français (French): French  
> Deutsch (German): German  
> Ellhnikά (Greek): Greek
> 
> Vorbesti orice limbi europene (Romanian): Do you speak any European languages  
> Bu çok fazla Batı sizin için mi (Turkish): Is this too far west for you  
> Wemada 'en alelghh al'erebyh (Arabic): What about Arabic
> 
>  
> 
> On the doctor and Spanish names: She's one of Lovino and Antonio's chilldren, and her full name is Catarina Constantia Agresta Fernandez. Traditional Spanish naming customs have the father's last name first and the mother's last name second, so when addressing someone you would use the first surname and not the second. This applies to naming children, too- so you have Antonio Fernandez Carriedo and Lovino Agresta Vargas (with Agresta being a headcanon surname from before Spanish rule), who would, in Spain, have the surnames of address Fernandez and Agresta to use for surnames of their children.


End file.
